United States v. Troy Murphy

UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 20-6928
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
v.
TROY LAMONT MURPHY,
Defendant - Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, at
Raleigh. Louise W. Flanagan, District Judge. (5:04-cr-00241-FL-2)
Submitted: July 16, 2021 Decided: August 4, 2021
Before GREGORY, Chief Judge, KEENAN, Circuit Judge, and SHEDD, Senior Circuit
Judge.
Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
G. Alan DuBois, Federal Public Defender, Eric Joseph Brignac, Chief Appellate Attorney,
OFFICE OF THE FEDERAL PUBLIC DEFENDER, Raleigh, North Carolina, for
Appellant. Robert J. Higdon, Jr., United States Attorney, Jennifer P. May-Parker, Assistant
United States Attorney, Kristine L. Fritz, Assistant United States Attorney, OFFICE OF
THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Raleigh, North Carolina, for Appellee.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
PER CURIAM:
Troy Lamont Murphy appeals the district court’s order denying his motion to reduce
sentence based on the First Step Act of 2018, Pub. L. No. 115-391, § 404, 132 Stat. 5194.
On appeal, Murphy asserts that the district court failed to provide an explanation for
rejecting arguments he raised for the first time in his reply to the Government’s opposition
to his motion. Because new arguments cannot be raised in a reply brief, the district court
was not required to consider Murphy’s argument, much less to provide an explicit analysis.
See United States v. Smalls, 720 F.3d 193, 197 (4th Cir. 2013). As such, we affirm the
district court’s order. We dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal
contentions are adequately presented in the materials before this court and argument would
not aid the decisional process.
AFFIRMED
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